The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-02-17
The Ten-Hour Bill Still Under Con-
sideration.
A Vote of iIe to 20 to Accept the
Majority Report.
- after by No Means Yet Settled
by the House.
Fogg and Shaw of Portland Opposed
TO the Looney Bill
The Bill Finally Recommltted to the
Committee.
Friends of the Majority Report Much
Disappointed.
New and Powerful Recruits to Assist
In Passing the Bill.
The Back Cove Bill Passes the Sem
An Important Matter in Which Port
land is Interested.
An Important Matter in Which Port
land is Interested.
Especial to the Press. !

consideration of the ten-hour bills. The de
bate had been animated, even exciting a
times, and had been listened to with earnes
attention by both the House and the specta
tors. Yet no such decisive action had beer
taken that it was possible to make any fore
cast of the probable result. There was
general feeling of perplexity, which mus
have deepened into anxiety with those mos
interested in the carefully prepared measur,
which the majority of the lab or committe,
| reported and advocated.
The pending question, when the ten-houi
bill was reached this morning, was the sub
stitution of the minority report (the Heatl
bilD for the majority report (the Looney bill.
There was little debate on this question, tn.
members apparently having said all the,
wished to yesterday, and it came very soor
to vote. All who favored the substitution
of the minority report for the majority re.
port answered ''yes," and all opposed ''no. y
So the yeas and nays may be taken as very
fair index of the preferences of the House
as for the one or the other. This is the vote,
Democrats being indicated by italics:
YEAs-Messrs. Alden, Bennett, Broscn, Burns
Chase of Damarscotta, Clark Of Saco, DotelL
LeuenSdtef Pdrcher. Scdnlmdfl. Scott Sturgis
Sylvester lnd.), Wakefield Weymouth, W'iIson
Utthd0l-22.
NAYs-Messrs. Adams, alexander. Allen. Aver
Barker. Beal, Billings, Bishop, Boanlton Bradley
Bryant Carleton, Chase Of Edgecomb, Clark oi
Calais, Clark of Caribou, Coutier, Condor, Cook
Corson, Cushing, Cults, Dawson, Dority Dow
Engel, Farrar, Ferguson, Field, Floyd Fogg
Foster, Friend Clifford Glover, Greene Grindle
Gouldsboro, Harding of Gerham Harding OF
Durham, Harper, Harrington, Hawkes., Hayden
Head, Hersey, Hobson, Hodgkins, Hunter Jones
Judkins, kidder. Kingsbury Knapp, Libby q
Burnham, LIBBY of Mattawalnkeag Iittlefeld ei
Prospect Lombard Looney, Luflxin, Lyons, Man
ley, Marble. Marston, Mason, Moore Of Deering
Moore Of Gardiner, O'Briels Nealy Newberf
Noble, Packard, Palmer, Pattangall, Pierce
Poole, Powers, Pray, Purington Of Bowdon, Pur-
lngton OF BOWdolnham, Randall, Ray, Reynolds
Richards, Kicker, Roberts of Brunswick, Roberts
Of Dexter; Boss, Russell Ryder, Sanborn OF
Shaw, silsby Small, Smith (Pro9 spnney, 7ai5oft &
Thurlow, Varney, Vaughn, Walton, Warren oi
Buxton, Warren OF Winslow Watts, Waugh
Wedgesooodi, Wentworth, Whitcomb, Whitmore
| , Midber, lWiggin, WWte. Wiswell Woodman
A6sent-Messrs. Bowker, Bradish, Clark Of
| York-10.
Thus the Heath bill was put aside by an
| overwhelming majority. But this vote is fal
| from decisive on the general question of ten.
hour legislation; indeed, it can hardly be
| said-to do little more than to define the mum.
1
| ing law to include men as well as women
| Many who voted the mays" against the
| Heath bill afterwards expressed themselves
| in strong terms against the Looney bill.
The Heath bill having been put out of the
way, the next question was on the accept
ance by the House of the Looney bill. On
this the biggest fight of all began.
| Mr.. Lyons of Vinalhayen first spoke in
| favor of accepting the bill as it was; Mr.
Looney followed in the same line; and ther
| n 4 IL
time to an eminently fair and candid argu
ment, also in favor of the Looney bill as il
| stood
Then the amendments came in, Mr.. Wal
ton presenting what has been named Amend
ment A. The first section of Mr.. Looney's
bill starts out ''No minor under eighteen
years Of age and no woman shall be EN-.
| pl0yed in any manufacturing or mechanical
business or establishment in this State more
than ten hours in any one day." etc. Mr.
| Walton's amendment would change this tC
read: mo person shall be employed in any
manufacturing or mechanical business OF
| establishment in this State more than ten
| hours in any one day." etc.
| With this amendment the debate con-
| tinued, although it was not confined to the
amendment, but wandered over the whole
| bill.
| Mr. Fogg of Portland, was the first man
who, on the floor of the House has come out
| fair and square against a ten-hour law. He
| ulu llOl Dcllcfc III passing measure Tlal
had for its basis mere sentiment. He fav.
| ored the laborer, was himself laborer; but
ne did not believe in class legislation in leg
islation that would discriminate against
working women, by saying that they could
| not work more than ten hours if they wished
to. "For more than forty years. said Mr
Fogg, 1--WE have been legisating to raise wo
| man up onto the same plain of rights a:
man. And today she has every right ex
| cept the right to cast a ballot that mar
hnC rros.. -. -
that takes away her right of contract, ant
turns, back the wheel of progress nearly
half century" Mr.. Fogg dwelt at consd
cradle length on the hardships that h,
thought would result should the Looney bill
| in its present form be passed.
Messrs. Condor and Noble followed will
remarks in favor of the Looney bill, and Mr.
Walton pitched in against it, making consid
| cradle fun for the House again. He was fol
| lowed by Captain Shaw of Portland.
Mr.. Shaw did not at any time in his speecl
| say exactly what his ideas were ON the bill
before the House, but the tenor of his re
marks, while llberalto the laborer, was man
| ifeSty opposed to any ten hour plan that hai
yet been proposed. Fifteen years ago in hi
own establishment, he said he made tel
children from working, as the pending bli
would prevent them. 1t had worked splen
didly; and Mr.. Shaw said, and this state
ment seems the key note to his speech, tha
he believed that such questions of hours o
work were best arranged in the estab
lishments themselves. There was. to b
sure, ground for some labor legislation
In the first place there was the helpleSsnes
of children, which the law should take int
account and for which it should offer pro
| lection. Then next came the helplessnes
of women. 1t was plain proposition tina
legislation should protect them to, but til
great question was, "How and TO what e1
tent" Then came the question whether W
should legislate to protect men. The labor
| ing men demand that their lab0rS be Hghi
ened as the machine does more and more
this is reasonable. They demand that the
shall have more time for recreation, that
reasonable too. They demand too that the
shall have shorter hours of work in orde
that place may sbe given for more worl
ingmen. This reason, Mr.. Shaw denounced
as a reason that was given by foreigner
who come here and wish to crowd int
places of native born Americans. "It is til
count want an infleXible ten-hour law, NJ
the native born Americans" The knight
of Labor do not want an inflexible ten-hot
| law. Another class who want an inflexib
ten-hour law" continued Mr.. Shaw, "al
that class who are always out of emplo.
ment; that class whom you will never hire
you can help it and will get rid of as soon
you can, the class that was good for nothir
when they were born, were good for nOthiT
when they were being raised, al
are g0Od Tor nothing when grow
Until the Almighty is able to create tv
| seeds exactly alike, that shall, when plantt
in exactly the same kinds of soil, produ
trees exactly alike in every twig and branc
until then you may egislate in vain to NAL
those fellows, whN are always calling f
equality, the equals of other men "a
plause) Another class, Mr.. Shaw sal
wanted high pay. When pay is high '
manufacturers make money, and where 1t
| low we don't make so much. But there
another foundation fact that must not be i
nored. The farmers of the State, on who
so much depend, are themselves depende
on the manufactures. Cripple the man
factures and you deal blow at the farI
J ers. We must legislate for Maine, and in
/ | doing we must not stife what is the on
hope and prospect Of Maine. In conclusio
; Mr.. Shaw, who had not hitherto express
definitely his attitude, made this stateme
Of it: II am in favor Of a ten-hour bill
men, women and children, embodying
| the Iooney bill for children under IL wear